Terrible Six-Year Graduation Rates

Here’s a grim statistic: Fewer than 60% of four-year college students graduate in six years.

Of course, noncompetitive schools, which accept nearly all comers, drag down the national graduation rates. For instance, only 18% of students at Mountain State University in Beckley, WV, which accepts all its applicants, graduate in six years. In contrast, 97% of Harvard students have earned their diploma by then.

Big deal, you’re probably thinking. The type of students that each of those institutions attract are dramatically different. What I find fascinating, however, is how much variation exists in graduation rates between colleges and universities with similar admission standards and similar student bodies.

Here are two examples:

Among the most competitive schools, Stanford University (CA) has a six-year grad rate of 95% versus 78% for George Washington University (DC). Among highly competitive schools, Providence College (RI) has a six-year grad rate of 87% versus 57% for Bennington College (VT).

When two colleges that enroll similar students have a graduation rate gap of twenty or thirty percentage points or more, it is fair to ask why. More important, students parents, guidance counselors and taxpayers (who foot the bill for many student costs) all deserve to know which schools graduate most of their students and which graduate only a few.)